She arrived in New York harbor 130 years ago today. A gift from the citizens of France to the citizens of the United States. She came in pieces and had to be assembled. She was named "Liberty Enlightening the World" by her creator, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. At her dedication ceremony on October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland said, "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home." Yes, Liberty had made her home here in the United States just twenty years after the end of a civil war that nearly destroyed our country. Just twenty years after the assassination of President Lincoln. Just twenty-three years after President Lincoln called on his fellow Americans to join with him to ensure "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
She also became know as the "Mother of Exiles." For immigrants sailing into New York harbor, she stood, torch lit, guiding them to a new land. She held their hopes and dreams just as surely as she held her torch. She held the promise of liberty and freedom just as surely as she held the tablet inscribed July 4, 1776. The broken chains at her feet echoed the words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence that all are created equal and Abraham Lincoln's call at Gettysburg for "a new birth of freedom." She gave light and form to this illusive concept of liberty and freedom.
Her new home country still struggled with achieving equality when she arrived. Women had yet to be given a voice. Former slaves still struggled to be treated equally. Struggles for equality still remain today. The voices have changed but the battle for freedom against those who still want to deny equality to all continues. The Statue of Liberty still stands in the harbor holding her torch, Her flame has not been extinguished, despite the best efforts of various groups throughout these 130 years. Neither will our quest for equality and liberty for all. We will continue to move forward, our path lit by Liberty's torch.
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